Appeal No. 2000-1092 4
Application No. 08/933,959
product-by-process terms any collection of powders which are not completely uniform in
shape and which contain few if any jagged edges “would meet the shape limitations recited in
the claims, absence evidence to the contrary.” See Answer, pages 3 and 4. We disagree.
The composition of Freeman is directed to particles that are dendritic in nature, i.e., a
branching figure resembling a tree. See column 1, lines 36-38. At most, we find that
Freeman discloses “discrete particles” useful in medicine and as catalysts. See column 1, lines
43-44. We find that the particles may be discrete particles. See the footnotes to
Table I. We further find that, “[o]ther conditions being constant, the powders prepared at
low concentrations are finer and of a more discrete nature than those prepared at higher
concentration.” See column 5, lines 53-55. However, notwithstanding these findings, there
is no teaching or suggestion that the discrete particles have the requisite geometric shape
required by the claimed subject matter.
Konig is similarly directed to fine-particle powders including Fe which have a defined
particle size of 1.0 nm to less than 100 nm. See Abstract, column 1, lines 4-6 and column
2, lines 6-12. However, as with the prior reference, there is no teaching or suggestion that
the discrete particles have the requisite geometric shape required by the claimed subject
matter.
Furthermore, neither of the references discloses the claimed method for producing the
powder or even a similar method. Nor, as we determined supra, does either of the
references disclose the claimed “rounded, randomly shaped contour” as shown in Figure 6, a
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